From NEHJ: It's all relative for Syner, Almeida

T.J. Syner (left) racked up 97 points at UMass before turning pro,
while Barry Almeida scored 45 goals as a BC Eagle and won two
national titles. (JustSports Photography)

Plenty of people have friends so
dear to their hearts they’re considered family. Few of those
folks, however, see that sentiment become a reality.

Barry Almeida and T.J. Syner are
both rookies this year for the American Hockey League’s
Hershey Bears. Dig just a hair deeper and you’d learn
they’re natives of Springfield, Mass., who grew up playing
with or against one another since they were first learning how to
skate.

What you may not realize is
they’re also cousins.

It’s a funny story,
actually.

Barry and T.J. have been the
best of friends for as long as they can remember, skating on the
same teams from youth hockey through their time with the New
England Junior Falcons before going their separate ways but keeping
in constant communication when facing off in the United States
Hockey League and college.

But, about a decade ago when the
two were in their teens, Barry’s uncle — Albert
Calvanese — and T.J.’s aunt — Laura Gramse
— met through the boys, hit it off and eventually got
married. Suddenly, the close pals were related.

“It was kind of weird
because we’d always refer to each other as friends our whole
lives,” T.J. said. “Then, when they got married, even
though we weren’t blood-related — we’re, I
don’t even know, second or third cousins — people would
always ask if we were related since we’re similar and always
around one another. Now we just kind of laugh at it and say,
‘Yeah, we’re cousins.’ ”

The guys aren’t only
similar off the ice — charismatic, honest, humble and
fun-spirited — they’re remarkably alike on it.

Though T.J.’s the elder of
the two 24-year-olds, only by about five weeks, Barry was the first
to leave home when he joined the USHL’s Omaha Lancers for the
2006-07 campaign. He stuck around for a second season in the league
— winning a Clark Cup championship — and that’s
when T.J. followed him, but to the Indiana Ice, which presented
their first opportunity to square off.

That became the norm for another
four seasons as both were recruited to Hockey East schools —
Barry to Boston College, where he won two championships on teams
that averaged 28 wins over his four seasons, and T.J. by UMass, a
chance to play very close to home in Amherst with a squad that
never won more than 18 games and managed to see its season ended
three times in the conference playoffs by those pesky Eagles.

While their teams had far
different successes, the guys thrived individually and almost
equally. Barry’s collegiate career ended with 45 goals and 92
points in 159 games, while T.J. boasted 60 assists of his 97 points
in just 135 contests. Both stood out as seniors — on the
score-sheets and as captains — but neither had been drafted,
leaving their future options wide-open.

T.J.’s season wrapped up
on March 10 of last year, courtesy of an Eagles sweep in the Hockey
East quarterfinals, so the Hobey Baker nominee signed an amateur
tryout agreement with the Bears four days later.

“I called him to
congratulate him and he was saying how I was up next,”
laughed Barry. “We were saying how it’d be crazy if we
ended up playing together but we didn’t know anything at this
point. It just so happened that when my season ended — we
both have the same agent — they were interested in me also,
so that made my decision easier because I wanted to go somewhere
where I was really close with someone. Getting an opportunity to
play together again was a no-brainer.”

And so Barry signed his contract
with Hershey on April 15, a week after capping an All-American
college season with a national title. He appeared in just two games
with the Bears late in the year, scoring a goal on only his second
career shift. T.J. finished with an assist in his pro debut, his
lone point in 10 games.

They spent the summer looking
ahead, training and working hard for an opportunity to enjoy this
season together in the AHL, perhaps with eyes on an even bigger
prize, but the National Hockey League’s 119-day lockout threw
a wrench in their plans. When the hockey season started, T.J. was
assigned to the ECHL’s Reading Royals.

“It was tough,”
admitted T.J. “Obviously at the end of last year, I came to
Hershey, played some games, and maybe my production wasn’t
where I wanted it to be, so I was kind of set back when I first
came into camp. It was a numbers game.”

It was disappointing for Barry,
too. He’d lost the one person who basically made a strange
new place feel like home.

Fortunately, though, the
demotion was brief. T.J. was recalled in late October after just
five games, where he was a point-per-game player for the Royals.
The cousins were together again. For about three weeks.

On Nov. 21, it was Barry’s
turn to head to Reading. The gritty winger had gotten off to a slow
start in the AHL — with three points in 13 games — and
this assignment lasted a while. Just like their junior hockey or
college days, he and T.J. had to bond from afar.

“We told each other when
one of us was down to keep working and things would work
out,” Barry remembered. “Being down there, it’s
not the end of the world but it’s not what you plan for. You
want to stay up. That’s pro hockey, too, you just never know.
Luckily things worked out.”

Barry was an unstoppable force
at the Double-A ranks with seven goals and 19 points. The timing
was good for him as the end of the NHL’s work stoppage
resulted in a few promotions from Hershey to Washington, and a
trickle-down effect that reunited him with his cousin in southern
Pennsylvania in mid-January. They’re even living
together.

“Having T.J. away from the
rink is awesome,” said Barry. “We can talk to one
another, take criticism from one another, and stuff like that.
It’s awesome to have him with me, someone I’m close to.
Some guys, in talking with them, they don’t have that where
they are.

“It’s made going pro
an easy transition,” he continued. “Guys still give us
a hard time in the locker room, saying we’re like the same
person — typical locker room talk — but it’s
obviously great to have him with me. I don’t like to be
uptight and I can always look to him for a laugh.”

The transition hasn’t only
been great for the boys. Imagine the ease on their families!

“When he went to BC and I
went to UMass, our families only really got to see the other one of
us play when we went against each other,” T.J. said.
“Now we can kind of go back to the old days when our families
used to travel together and take the long road trips to see us
play. It’s kind of full-circle. It’s
unbelievable.”

“It’s especially
nice for my mom,” added Barry. “She’s always
worried about me, even though I’m 24 years old. She still
thinks I’m a little baby. Having T.J. around, she knows
I’m happy and there’s someone else keeping an eye on
me.”

This article originally
appeared in the February 2013 issue of New England Hockey
Journal.